1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a sound insulating panel for disposal adjacent a structural panel of an automobile and to an apparatus for and method of making same.
2. Prior Art Statement
It is known in the art to provide a sound insulating panel of the type which is disposed adjacent a structural panel of an automobile and wherein such panel is comprised of a fibrous pad which is coated with a dense liquid vinyl plastisol coating and thereafter the resulting construction is contoured employing an associated mold device and further processed to set the contour, and such a panel is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,215. It is also disclosed in this patent to provide such a sound insulating panel which has a preliminary contour imparted thereto whereupon a coating of a dense liquid vinyl plastisol is applied thereagainst and then a final contour is provided in a mold device and the construction further processed as before.
It is also known in the art to provide an automobile sound insulating panel comprised of a contoured fibrous pad which has a dense liquid vinyl plastisol layer bonded thereagainst.
However, each of the panels mentioned above is of maximum weight due to the utilization of a dense vinyl plastisol i.e., plastisol which is free of substantial air pockets or voids. Accordingly, with the increasing scarcity and cost of automobile fuels it is exceedingly important to reduce automobile weight as much as possible without sacrificing automobile safety and comfort. It has also been found that the sound insulating properties of such a panel are not aided by using dense vinyl plastisol as a coating or layer on a fibrous pad.